Henry Blogg's (RNLI) Museum Cromer is dedicated to one of the greatest lifeboat men in history.
Situated at the end of Cromer's promenade and with free admission it's well worth a visit…. It's on two floors and a disabled lift is available for those unable to climb the stairs.
Henry Blogg served as a coxswain for 37 years at the Cromer Lifeboat Station, his lifeboat, the legendary 'HF Bailey' built in 1923 and the first lifeboat to be powered by a motor is the centre piece of the exhibition along with many other interesting artefacts from the 30's and 40's.
During his long and legendary career as a lifeboat man (53 years in total of which 37 years was as a coxswain) he was awarded with three gold and four silver RNLI medals for gallantry as well as the George Cross and the British Empire Medal for his services. With the help of his crew he successfully saved 873 lives during his time in the service.
Henry Blogg finally retired from the service at the age of 71 eleven years after normal retirement age; sadly he passed away seven years later at the age of 78.
But as we see he is not forgotten, when a new lifeboat came into service it was appropriately named 'The Henry Blogg' in recognition of his long and creditable service to the RNLI, not only that, his nephew, Henry Davies took over as the coxswain and kept the family tradition of seafaring alive.
If you should ever visit the museum or the Cromer lifeboat station, which is on the end of the pier, don't forget to drop a few coins in one of the collection boxes, these people offer up their services for free – the least we can all do is make sure they have the right equipment to do the job – if we as a nation don't contribute towards this valuable service one day it may be lost.